Mercruiser Alpha One Gen 1 Mercury Starboard Trim Cylinder 98704 on 2040-parts.com

Europe trailing on ESP safety

NOT ENOUGH new cars in Europe are being specified with an electronic stability programme (ESP) that is proved to be most important safety system in prevent collisions. Research by Frost and Sullivan has found Europe is lagging behind North America, where there is almost 100% success with fitting news cars with ESP. Despite ESP being included in the European New Car Assessment Programme since 2011, the study shows there has been only a minimal increase in the number of cars sold that have ESP.

Frankfurt 2011: 2012 Honda Civic

2012 Honda Civic revealed at Frankfurt 2011 We had quite a tease from Honda on the 2012 Civic in the run-up to Frankfurt, but at least it was a tease with substance, rather than just pointless shots of bits of a new car. Honda made the effort to divvy up ‘official’ spy shots and to put together some talking head videos which, although a little dry, were at least informative. So it’s nice to see the real deal 2012 Civic at Frankfurt, even if it is very much an evolutionary refresh for 2012, rather than anything too drastic in styling terms.

2011 Jaguar XJ spied in the snow

Jaguars are fast and sleek, and few things in the animal kingdom--or the car world--can hang with them. But spy shooters apparently can. And today we have shots of what could be the new XJ.